Derbyshire: Fire stations to close ‘only as a last resort’

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue has vowed to only close stations across the county as a last resort.

Staveley Fire Station, which often is called to emergencies in Creswell, Whitwell and surrounding areas, was one of 19 stations due to close across the county by 2022.

The proposals were part of 12-week public consultation which was discussed at Derbyshire Fire Authority last week.

Among the measures agreed, the authority decided to ‘reduce the requirements for the number of existing uniformed and support roles and manage the reduction in a sensitive manner to avoid compulsory redundancies over the next two years’ and ‘maintain the recently built stations and look at station closures as a last resort.’

The amount taxpayers pay to the fire service has been increase in order to protect them from harm - according to fire bosses.

Members also voted in favour of increasing the precept by 1.9 per cent. It means an increase of £1.28 for properties in band D.

The service has been charged with making £4.4million in cuts over the next four years - this is on top of the £4million already saved over the last four years.